Volkswagen Touareg

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Volkwagen Touareg

Manufacturer:	Volkswagen AG
Production:	2003–present
Predecessor:	Volkswagen Eurovan (For North America)
Class:	Mid-size SUV
Body style:	4-door SUV
Platform:	AWD
Wheelbase:	2855 mm
Length:	4754 mm
Width:	1928 mm
Height:	1726 mm
Related:	Porsche Cayenne Audi Q7
Similar:	Nissan Murano Mercedes-Benz M-Class Land Rover LR3 BMW X5

The Volkswagen Touareg is a luxury 4x4 (US: SUV) automobile manufactured by Volkswagen. It is the first of this class ever produced by this manufacturer. It rides on the Volkswagen E platform.

The Touareg was co-developed with Porsche, who was also looking to add an SUV to their lineup, as a cost-sharing initiative. Porsche shares this chassis to underpin their Cayenne SUV, although there are numerous styling, equipment and technical differences between the two vehicles. Also, the Touareg replaced the Eurovan for North America as the company's truck.

The Touareg was Car and Driver magazine's Best Luxury SUV for 2003, Motor Trend magazine's Sport/Utility of the Year for 2004, "Four Wheeler" magazine's Four Wheeler of the Year for 2005 & Overlander's 2003 4WDOTY

The following engines are available:

174 PS (128 kW, 172 hp) 2.5 L diesel I5/R5
225 PS (165 kW, 225 hp) 3.0 L diesel V6, 500 N·m (369 ft·lbf)
240 PS (177 kW, 236 hp) 3.2 L gasoline V6
310 PS (228 kW, 305 hp) 4.2 L gasoline V8
313 PS (230 kW, 308 hp) 5.0 L diesel V10, 750 N·m (550 ft·lbf)
450 hp (331 kW) 6.0 L gasoline W12, 599 N·m (442 ft·lbf) (somewhat limited-edition. Not available in the US)

Link to the V10 experience site: http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new_cars/touareg

No other passenger car has ever hosted such a range of cylinder counts in standard engines. The twin-turbocharged diesel V10 engine pushes the Touareg from 0–62 mph (100 km/h) in 7.8 seconds, and on to 143 mph (230 km/h) maximum. The Diesel V10 was offered in the United States for a limited time in 2004 and 2005, but — emissions regulations forced it off the market for a temporary period. Volkswagen fixed these issues, and the V10 returned to the US lineup late in 2006. It will also be the only U.S. market Volkswagen diesel available for the 2007 model year.

The W12 version should reach 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.9 seconds. Production of the W12 Touareg is limited to 500 units. Of these, 330 are slated for Saudi Arabia, with none going to the United States.

Despite the misconception that the Touareg and Cayenne are "soft-roaders" with little or no off-road ability, Porsche/Volkswagen jointly did extensive off-road testing with test mules and both vehicles are in actuality extremely capable off-road, all that is really necessary are more aggressive tires. Volkswagen, for instance, entered a modified Touareg in the Paris Dakar.

Stanley

Stanley the modified Touareg also won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge.

Both Touareg and Cayenne come standard with four wheel drive, an automatic progressively locking center differential (with manual override) and a "low range" setting that can be activated with in-cabin controls. Options to make the vehicles more capable off-road include an available air suspension system which can raise the car's ride height on command and an interior switch allowing the rear differential to be manually locked. At maximum ride height, the air suspension system gives 10.7 in of ground clearance.

The Touareg name is derived from the French moniker for the nomadic Tuareg tribe. The name of the vehicle is frequently mispronounced; the proper pronunciation is TWAH-reg. Ironically it is a word that Germans find difficult to pronounce, finding it easier to say "Tour-egg".

1 Touareg Facelift
2 Development, Success and Distribution
3 Environmental and health concerns
4 External links

[edit] Touareg Facelift

The Touareg's 1st facelift was unveiled at the 2006 Paris Motorshow. It now features the shield grille from other Volkswagen vehicles. The updated Touareg has more than 2300 redesigned parts and boasts some new technological features.

ABS Plus: Works in conjunction with the traction control system and shortens the braking distance by upto 20% on loose surfaces.

Front Scan: Adaptive cruise control system, which can slow and stop the car depending on traffic conditions.

Side Scan: A blind-spot warning system; radar at the rear of the car senses another car present and causes LEDs built into the wing mirrors to flash. If the driver indicates to move out, the LEDs flash at an accelerated rate to warn the driver until the other vehicle moves out of the Touareg's field of vision.

The MY2007 Touareg, along side an already lengthy options list, can be equipped with a driving dynamics package, a rollover sensor, a 620 watt Dynaudio sound system and redesigned comfort seats.

Engine Range Two new engines replace the 240 and 310 PS gasoline engines:

280 PS (206 kW, 276 hp) 3.6 L gasoline V6
340 PS (257 kW, 340 hp) 4.2 L gasoline V8

All diesels now have the particle filter standard.

[edit] Development, Success and Distribution

The Touareg was a joint project developed by Porsche and Volkswagen, initially called E1. The goal was to create an off-road vehicle that could handle as a sports car. The team, with over 300 people, was lead by Klaus-Gerhard Wolpert and was based in Weissach im Tal, Germany. The Volkswagen Touareg is built in Bratislava, Slovakia. The manufacturing plant shares production with Touareg-cousins Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7. Due to the demand, and the exchange rates of Euro vs. Dollar, as well as different pricing and environmental policies in the USA, only V6 and V8 are available for the North American market. A very limited number of the 2004 V10 diesel engine units were sent and are currently highly priced, even on the used market.

[edit] Environmental and health concerns

The V10 diesel version of the Touareg was named "meanest" or least-energy-efficient 2004 car by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for its fuel economy of 17 miles per US gallon city (7.3 km/L) and 23 mpg highway (9.8 km/L). To illustrate, an average North American full-size SUV usually travels 13 mpg (US) (18 L/100 km) city and 16 mpg (US) (15 L/100 km) highway. This, along with the Touareg's emissions and their estimated impact on global warming and health, earned it the low "Green Score" of 9, as compared to the Honda Civic GX, which was the "greenest", at a score of 57. Within the context of the US SUVs that are significantly less efficient (e.g. HumVee) this accolade is confusing.

Interestingly enough, despite the common perception in the US that diesels are noisy and polluting, they have strong environmental advantages. In Europe, where ecology has a strong effect on politics, over 50% of newly-registered passenger cars are diesel-engined. The coalition government of the German Green Party and the SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany introduced highly restrictive environmental policies, that increased the use of diesel and biodiesel vehicles. Diesel engines are about 30% more efficient than gasoline engines (spark-ignition engines), due to the fact that diesel fuel has 30% more energy content per volume than gasoline. The increased fuel economy of the diesel over the petrol engine means that the diesel produces less carbon dioxide (CO2) per unit distance. Recently, advances in production and changes in the political climate have increased the availability and awareness of biodiesel, an alternative to petroleum-derived diesel fuel with a much lower net-sum emission of CO2, due to the absorption of CO2 by plants used to produce the fuel.